PRINCE2 time driven and event driven controls
PRINCE2 Project Controls
Time-driven controls
Within PRINCE2, both of the time-driven controls are handled by two progress reports – the highlight report and the checkpoint report
Highlight reporting
A highlight report is a regular progress reports that the project manager gives to the project board members. The content of this report is fairly obvious; schedule, budget, delivery, and information on any major problems.
The project board specifies the frequency and precise content of this report, and those facts are recorded within the communication management plan which itself forms part of the project initiation document
Although the highlight report is intended primarily for the project board, it may have a circulation beyond that. For example, you would normally provide a copy of the highlight report to the programme director. In addition there may be other senior stakeholders who would want to see a copy of this report on a regular basis.
Checkpoint reporting
This is a progress report provided by the team manager and sent to the project manager that explains how the work on a work package is progressing.
Work package
This is an instruction from a project manager to a team manager, to build one or more products or deliverables.
The work package includes things such as reporting requirements and problem notification, including work package exception.
Team managers will provide these checkpoint reports at the frequency and with the contents as set down within the work package instructions, and this builds-in great flexibility.
You can vary the frequency of checkpoint reports between work packages, so that one team manager may produce a checkpoint report every two days, while another team manager doing work at the same time, produces a checkpoint report every two weeks.
As with the highlight report, the idea is to keep things simple and, as with any PRINCE2 report you may decide that it can be given verbally.
The team manager normally produces a checkpoint report after a regular team meeting. Although there is no requirement to hold team meetings, or to match checkpoint reporting to team meeting frequency. If such a meeting is to be held then this would represent the third time-driven control.
Using PRINCE2 event-driven controls
The event driven controls happen when the associated trigger events happen, and the most important of these event-driven controls are the project stages.
You cannot say the word “control” in PRINCE2 without immediately thinking “stages”. Stages, also known as phases, are the big controls in the method, where a stage is a block of project work that the project board is willing to authorize to be carried out in one go.
Stages are not a uniform length, you never, for example, say that a year long project divides into six stages of two months each.
No, the stages are different lengths because they relate to the nature of the work, not to the turn of a page in a calendar. To determine the length of the stage, you consider things like the amount of risk in that part of the project and major decisions about the project.
The stages are rare event driven, so when you reach the point you defined, the stage ends. If the work is slightly delayed, then the stage takes slightly longer and the project board meeting at the end of the stage is slightly later.
If the stage finishes early, then the project board will meet at earlier to decide what actions to take next.
Management stages verses technical stages
These are two entirely different things. The management stages are the units of work that the project board is willing to authorize and a particular management stage may contain several technical stages.
You may aligned some of the management stage boundaries to technical stage boundaries almost certainly not all of them or you are just running with the technical stages and missing out on the power of the management stage concept.
The stages in PRINCE2 give the project board superb control and means that it does not have to water eyes all the money and staff resources for the entire project at the beginning.
The project plan sets down the spend of money and the use of staff and then the board authorize is these in a controlled manner, one stage at a time.
How many stages does your project need?
Some people are asked whether you can have a standard number of stages for a particular type or size of project. The answer is no. It is impossible to define a calculation or algorithm on the number of stages, because there are too many variables and an infinitive variety of project types.
The project board decides the number of stages and these factors cover the project board work. If you are a project board member, then this will be an important decision to contribute to.
Balancing the number of stages
You need to be careful when thinking about the number of stages and where the stage boundaries are. The more stages you have for more control you have, but the higher the cost.
The fewer stages, the lower the cost, but also the lower the degree of control. The project board must strike this balance.
The project board meet at the end of each stage and meetings can be expensive when you cost out everybody’s time. And don’t forget that the greater the number of stages, the greater number of stage plans two, and they can take a lot of effort.
Stage approval
No stage can start in PRINCE2 unless the project board gives its authority to do so. This makes the stage a powerful control, because you make a clear and recorded decision to carry on into the next stage, and the project does not just role and because nobody thought to say stop
Although PRINCE2 does not specify how the project board will give that authority, using a traditional handwritten sign off is probably the best method. It is a wonderful instrument for getting commitment.
Whenever possible, board members should physically signed these authorities, as it shows a commitment and accountability for their decision.
Of course, this meets the PRINCE2 principle of “manage by stages”.
Four key points for decision making
The stage boundaries form key decision points for the project board. Even before the first stage, the board must decide whether the initial work carried out via the “starting up a project” process, shows the project to be viable and at least worth planning in more detail.
If it does, the project starts to run the planning or a initiation stage, and produces the project initiation document.
The project board must now decide whether the project should carry on or whether, after all, it is not worth conducting and the project must stop.
The project board then meet at the end of each stage for an end stage assessment to decide whether everything is OK and whether or not to authorise the next block of work, the next management stage.
At the end of the last stage, the project board check that everything is complete and authorized project closure.
End stage assessment
This is the project board meeting at the end of a stage in which project board members review the stage that has just completed, check that the project remains viable, and then either authorize the next management stage or stopped the project.
The project closure control
The project board can decide not to authorize a stage and stop the project instead.
But it has another, more immediate control. PRINCE2 incorporates a mechanism where the project board can order an immediate closure of the project without waiting until stage end.
In response to an avents at any point in the project, the project board can call in the project manager and instruct that the project goes into its close down process.
This could be in response to a serious problem that has taken the project out of control, or perhaps because of some new information that shows the project just isn’t needed anymore.
